US military ‘Talos’ suit to commence testing in June

After the reports of the U.S. military’s “Iron Man” suit were revealed, tech enthusiasts from around the world kept asking for more information about the suit. Now, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command announced that the armor will be reading for testing around June 2014. The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS for short, already has three unpowered prototypes in development that will come in June. After that, the suit will go through rigorous testing with the hope of a field-ready release by August 2018.

In a special conference in Washington DC, Navy Admiral William McRaven spoke about the suit’s potential in combat and special operations, specifically about its capability to save lives. There are a ton of plans for it, like injecting a liquid armor system developed by MIT that could stop a barrage of bullets and integrating a Heads-Up Display with health monitors and other gadgets. Although some scoffed at the idea of creating a real life “Iron Man” suit, no one in the military has actually called it that but comparisons with the Marvel superhero were bound to arise.

There are 56 corporations, 16 government agencies, 13 universities and 10 national laboratories working together right now in developing the armor. Let that sink in for a bit as the money and the manpower involved in this project is simply tremendous. Admiral McRaven even wants to seek additional help from experts with prize money on the table. One might wonder about secrecy concerns but considering the fact that we know almost nothing about the suit with so many people working on it, it is very likely that it will continue to be kept under wraps for a while yet.